Colonization and the Rule of Law: Comparing the effectiveness of common law and civil law countries

The rule of law is one of the most important components of any explanation of cross-national differences in economic well-being. But what leads to better rule of law in a country? Using an institutional approach this paper probes the effect of legal systems in influencing the rule of law. There has long been speculation that the countries adopting English common law are better at providing legal dispute resolution than those adopting the continental forms of civil law. That speculative assessment is found to be true only in those countries that have been colonized, further analysis demonstrates that it is the effectiveness of the protection of property rights in common law systems rather than the institutions themselves that influence rule of law statistics. The paper calls for a more refined examination of legal systems which takes into consideration whether law is organically developed or transplanted

Anabaptism and the State: An Uneasy Coexistence

In any compilation of Christian views of the state, the Anabaptist position stands out as unique or, if one wanted to be less complimentary, extreme. The Anabaptist view of the state is less focused on articulating the division between church and state responsibilities than the Reformed or Lutheran traditions. Indeed, Anabaptists have no assigned role for government beyond the creation of order, emphasizing scriptural interpretations that give primacy to the church in the life of a Christian. As a result, political theology distances Anabaptists from both the Catholic Church and the mainstream of the Reformation

Enforcing New Property Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Ugandan Constitution and the 1998 Land Act

A convincing case has been made in both academic studies and policy circles for clearly defined private property rights as a means to economic development. Perhaps best characterized by the recent work of Hernando De Soto, well-defined private property rights are thought to be critical not just for economic growth, but also as tool to alleviate poverty. The argument that the poor have capital that need only be put to efficient use through the creation of institutional structures that will allow them to access it is compelling. De Soto\u27s work follows decades of policy advice provided by the international financial institutions - the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - to developing countries regarding the privatization of property, both in agriculture and industry. The ideological agenda behind their reform advice has been neoliberalism. Reforms are designed to facilitate trade and integration into the world market. The focal point of De Soto\u27s work, in contrast, is poverty alleviation. Both perspectives suggest policy emphasizing well-defined private property rights that can be both exchanged and enforced

Intergenerational land conflict in northern Uganda: children, customary law and return migration

Northern Uganda is in transition after the conflict that ended in 2006. While its cities are thriving and economic opportunities abound, the social institutions governing land access are contested, the land administration system is changing, and the mechanisms available to address conflicts over resources have themselves become a venue for authority claims. This article examines the intergenerational nature of land conflicts in northern Uganda, focusing on the interplay of customary law, return migration and the development of a market in land. There are three contributions to existing literature: (1) a discussion of children\u27s property rights under customary and statute law in Uganda; (2) the identification of the dual nature of children during complex emergencies as both victims and agents; and (3) an addition to knowledge on post-conflict return and community reconstruction. Evidence comes from several sources, the most important of which are a set of interviews conducted in Gulu and Kampala in May and June 2015. Secondary sources augment the field research, particularly survey research conducted in northern Uganda after the conflict

Church, State and Citizen: Christian Approaches to Political Engagement

In Church, State, and Citizen, Sandra F. Joireman has gathered political scientists to examine the relationship between religion and politics as seen from within seven Christian traditions: Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, Anglican, Evangelical and Pentecostal. In each chapter the historical and theological foundations of the tradition are described along with the beliefs regarding the appropriate role of the state and citizen. While all Christian traditions share certain beliefs about faith (e.g. human sin, salvation, Christ\u27s atonement) and political life (e.g. limited government, human rights, the incompleteness and partiality of all political action) there are also profound differences. The authors discuss the contemporary implications of these beliefs both in the United States and in other areas of the world where Christianity is showing increasing vigor.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1147/thumbnail.jp

Property Rights and Political Development in Ethiopia and Eritrea 1941-74

This book looks at the microfoundations of poverty in the developing world and in particular those present in property rights. The local institutions that govern land access are fundamental in affecting the distribution of wealth in a society. Property rights matter because they affect political development and economic growth. Development economists and policy makers often work on the assumption that property rights evolve from collective to more specified systems. The author has set out to test this theory by using the evidence available in the special cases of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Political scientists and economists working in land tenure and land reform will find rich comparative material in Professor Joireman\u27s contribution.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1148/thumbnail.jp

An Abundance of Violence and Scarcity of Words (Book Review)

It is hard to avoid knowing something about the conflict in Darfur. There are divestment movements, student campaigns, actors raising awareness and the ‘genocide olympics’ to remind us of the ongoing conflict. There is also an increasingly ugly exchange in which two sides are talking and neither is listening. This exchange is not between the combatants, as one might expect, but among activists and scholars who disagree on the best way to portray the conflict. While it is difficult to avoid knowing something about the violence in Darfur, finding a deeper analysis that goes beyond the attempts to gain attention and muster moral outrage is not easy. Two of the books reviewed here do much to fill this gap by providing rich historical background and resources regarding the political makeup of the area for those who want to know more about the conflict in Darfur. Prunier offers a detailed history of the Darfur region from the time of the Fur Sultanate (late 1600s) forward. The book situates Darfur domestically and within regional politics involvingChadandLibya. De Waal’s edited volume provides a forum for voices from Europe and Sudan with a variety of foci but a unifying theme that what is happening in Darfur is a political conflict with specific historical causes. The third book, a compilation by Furley and May, addresses many of the other conflicts in Africa that have not yet reached the point of being labeled genocide

Land contracts and traditional tenure

The goal of this project is to identify the current day policy implications of a traditional tenure system, rist or risti, with particular reference to the types of contractual agreements that existed under that system. In order to achieve this, the paper will begin with a reference to the importance of understanding the traditional systems of land tenure. Then, a brief description of the data set and available information will be given, followed by the preliminary results of the data and a description of the kinds of contractual arrangements found under the traditional system. This will be followed by a discussion of the policy implications

HIV/AIDS in Africa

The response of the United States to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa is an example of the redefined nature of security threats that characterizes the post-September 11 period. Even the most ardent realists now accept that serious threats exist to US security apart from those brewing in organized states. Scholars and governments have been forced to adopt a greater sensitivity to the issues that underlie international violence and terrorism, such as a lack of political freedom, state failure, poverty, and HIV/AIDS, the topic addressed in this chapter as an indirect threat to US security interests in Africa.

Where There is No Government: Enforcing Property Rights in Common Law Africa

It is safe to say that a sizeable majority of the world\u27s population would agree with the proposition that that property rights are important for political and social stability as well as economic growth. But what happens when the state fails to enforce such rights? Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, this is in fact an endemic problem. In Where There is No Government, Sandra Joireman explains how weak state enforcement regimes have allowed private institutions in sub-Saharan Africa to define and enforce property rights. After delineating the types of actors who step in when the state is absent--traditional tribal leaders, entrepreneurial bureaucrats, NGOs, and violent groups--she argues that the institutions they develop can be helpful or predatory depending on their incentives and context. Because such institutions are neither inherently good nor inherently bad, Joireman develops a set of measurement criteria to assess which types of property regimes and enforcement mechanisms are helpful and which are harmful to social welfare.By focusing on the varieties of property rights enforcement in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, Joireman moves beyond simply evaluating the effectiveness of official property rights laws. Provocatively, she also challenges the premise that changes in property law will lead to changes in property rights on the ground. Indeed, states that change their property laws face challenges in implementation when they do not control the authority structures in local communities. Utilizing original research on the competitors to state power in Sub-Saharan Africa and the challenges of providing secure and defensible property rights, Where There is No Government is a sharp analysis of one of the most daunting challenges facing the African subcontinent today.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1152/thumbnail.jp